Tech And Farms: Is This The Future Of...

Tech And Farms: Is This The Future Of Sustainable Agriculture?

A drone flies over a field. Keep reading to learn more about how farmers are using drones and other technologies to increase crop production on farms.

Have you ever thought about how farming and technology are coming together to create sustainable solutions to meet the world’s food needs?

TangoTab is a company committed to creating sustainable solutions to end hunger and empowering individuals with tools to fight food insecurity in their local communities.

Through the TangoTap app, which users can download and use for free, people have the ability to check-in at partner restaurants and coffeeshops and help feed people in need as a part of their regular routine.

Each time a user checks-in, TangoTab donates the cost equivalent of a meal to organizations that provide food to people in need locally.

As TangoTab continues to grow, we are supporting projects that make fresh, nutritious food more accessible to neighborhoods.

Community partnerships with organizations such as F.A.R.M in DFW are part of TangoTab’s mission to end hunger and increase access to nutritious food.

While part of solving the hunger and food insecurity issue is getting food to people who need it, part of the issue is also looking for sustainable ways to get healthy food to local communities.

As a global society, we also have to keep in mind that the world’s population is expected to reach as many as 10 billion people by the year 2050.

According to renowned scholar Ernst van den Ende, managing director of WUR‘s Plant Sciences Group in Amsterdam, the planet must produce “more food in the next four decades than all farmers in history have harvested over the past 8,000 years.”

People around the world are combining modern day technology with traditional farming practices to prepare for these needs and increase food production while decreasing environmental footprints.

Some farms use data gathered from drones to increase crop yields. Collecting and using data from the fields is referred to as “precision farming.” Photo via technologyreview.com.

For example, a Dutch farmer named Jacob van den Borne runs a potato farm using two drones and a driverless tractor. This allows him to gather detailed data on everything from soil chemistry to individual plant progress, and adjust his day-to-day practices accordingly.

The results speak for themselves: Van den Borne’s potato farms consistently produce more than 20 tons of potatoes per acre. The global average yield for potato farms is nine tons per acre, so using this technology allows him to double average production.

Van de Borne’s children on top of their family’s potato harvest. Photo by Luca Locatelli via nationalgeographic.com.

Urban greenhouses are also incorporating technological innovations that allow for produce to be grown year round indoors using environmentally friendly practices.

Gotham Greens, for instance, has a rooftop greenhouse in Queens, NYC, and uses LED lighting technology and solar panels to create a sustainable urban farming operation that grows over 5 million heads of fresh leafy greens in just 60,000 square feet.

LED lighting technology and solar panel technology are paving the way for urban greenhouses to grow fresh produce sustainably. Photo via gothamgreens.com.

Both LED lighting technology and solar panel technology now allow greenhouses to produce fresh produce within big cities with a reduced environmental footprint.

Solar panels offer a renewable energy source to help power the indoor farming operations, and LED lighting uses just 10% of the energy needed to power incandescent lights, and less than 50% of the energy needed to power CFL bulbs.

LED lights shines on top of leafy greens in an indoor farm. Photo by Travis Anderson via fastcompany.com.

Some companies are even using technology to grow meat in labs. Many experts fear that current practices surrounding animal agriculture are unsustainable for the future. In fact, a report published by the WorldWatch Institute asserts that raising animals for human consumption accounts for almost 51 percent of gas emissions.

Despite this, the demand for meat worldwide is increasing rapidly, and technology is being applied to explore new, more sustainable ways to produce meat.

An example of meat grown in a lab. Photo via nbcnews.com.

Memphis Meats is one of the companies experimenting with producing meat in labs. Their website states, “We’re developing a way to produce real meat from animal cells, without the need to feed, breed and slaughter actual animals.”

What do you think about the different ways technology is changing traditional farming practices? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.